Next Chapter
By diav
Genre: Romance/Angst
Rating: T
Characters: Kim Possible, Shego
Story Type: one-shot
Summary: AU. Kim runs into an ex (?) in the library.
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from the Kim Possible series.
Augh.
Why is the library so full today?
Oh wait, it's midterm season. I really need to get cracking on this macroeconomics course... And maybe pass... I've been in such a weird funk lately ever since...
No.
Stop, Kim. Don't think about it.
It's so packed in here, I'm never going to find a seat.
Aha! There's one! Right there.
Excuuuuuuuse me, you there in the weird hat, you're blocking my way. Oh crap, the guy over there is making his way over...
C'mon, c'mon...
Yes! Jackpot! Ha, take that! This seat is mine, all mine...
Time to crack open these books and- whoops, pencil rolled off the desk.
Why are you such a klutz, Kim? I hope no one's watching me pick up this pencil, it's just weird...
Oh, this is so gross. All that gum underneath the table. Ugh.
Hey, that girl at the end of the table looks familiar. That sweater...
That colour...
Her hair...
Oh no.
Oh no.
Oh no.
Ok, Kim, calm down. She hasn't seen you yet. I'll just sit in this chair, stare at my textbook and pretend the rest of the world doesn't exist.
Ok? Sounds good.
"Macroeconomics deals with the performance, structure, and decision-making of the entire economy..." Oh boy, this is going to be torture. I have to review six chapters of this textbook and I'm only on the Introduction section.
Time to start making notes...
Ugh, I think I'm making a lot of noise... it's just so quiet in here. Where is my notebook? I thought I stuffed it in with all my other textbooks. Maybe it's in the bottom of my bag...
Oh boy. Good job, Kim, you've now ripped several pages from your notebook since they were caught in something and now everyone at the table is looking at you... even...
Ah, she saw me.
And the first thing I do is look away.
This is so the drama.
Staring at my desk now. "Macroeconomics is..."
...She's wearing that red sweater she wore during our first date. She was so cute in that outfit.
Those hipster-esque glasses really suit her, especially with that sweater... And she put up her hair... it's cute.
Snap out of it, Kim! Focus on studying!
...how can I?
I don't even know what's going on anymore.
How did we end up this way?
She's doing her best to avoid me right now. I think.
This is making me so uncomfortable. I don't know why we're pretending to not know each other...?
I don't even know what the hell happened; is she mad at me? Or am I mad at her? I just don't know anymore.
It's funny how some things happen to people like us.
We're not really speaking right now... how long has it been since we did last speak? I don't remember.
I just miss her. I want to tell her that, but I just can't bring myself to.
Oh, she saw me looking over at her... what should I do? I'm just blinking like an idiot right now.
Her eyes... they look so sad, but her facial expression tells me nothing. It's not a scowl, it's not a smile, it's just so... neutral. Like she's accepted what we've now become and how she won't do anything more to fix this.
Should I be the one fixing this? No one remembers who's at fault now...
I'm fidgeting so much under her gaze that I'm tugging on my shirt collar...
It's just so awkward.
But I'm dying to know whether this silence is killing her too.
Does she even care about me anymore?
I remember meeting her in the library... at... oh hey, this is the exact same desk. And she's sitting in the exact same spot...
Is Fate laughing at us right now? The story of 'us' is now a tragedy... or maybe a dramedy with how things ended.
She's looking at me uncomfortably now. I swear I saw her open her mouth, but we can't really talk since we're in the library and there are three people in between us at the table...
Oh, she looked away now. She pulled out her phone... Is she going to text me?
Should I pull out my phone too? Where is the darned thing... I hope I turned it on silent because I really don't want the beep beep beep to ring out...
She was so socially awkward when I first met her. We'd spend more time texting and instant messaging than actually hanging out. And when we did start hanging out, it was super awkward at first, but I guess all of our walls broke down and...
Someone just cleared their throat. I look for the source of the unwelcomed distraction. It's the guy sitting opposite of me. He flashes me a smile.
I'm barely paying attention to this guy. He's whispering to me about how he's noticed me around campus and was wondering for a while now whether he should introduce himself. I think he said his name is Eric? I'm about to reply that I'm really not interested when my cell phone vibrates in my pocket.
It's from her.
"The biggest miscommunication is to assume communication has taken place."
I don't get this message. So should we talk it out? That's what I want to do.
Oh. That Eric guy is still talking to me. She's getting up now with all her stuff. I'm guessing it's because she saw me talking to him instead of replying her text. Crap.
I need to do damage control. Now. Otherwise the story of 'us' will be no more...
I don't think I've ever ran out of a library that fast with all my stuff before.
She's two feet from me. I'm gaining in on her.
I want to scream at her.
I want to shout at her.
I want to hug her.
My throat is dry, I can't call out to her.
I think I just tackled her? I told you, I'm a bit scatter-brained right now with how everything's going.
I think she just scolded me? Pretty sure she said, "Kim, what the hell are you doing?"
What the hell am I doing, really...
I'm brushing myself off and help her up. Her books are strewn all over the hall. Even her glasses flew off her face, whoops. I help her pick them up and she looks... angry... no, amused. I'd put them on her, but that's just... no, Kim, focus. We're not really touchy-feely right now. We're actually... nothing... right now.
Without thinking properly, I blurt out a "Can we talk?"
Author's Notes: Everyone is so out of character that I'm actually really sorry I wrote this. I just needed to write this down before I exploded from the whole back-to-school business.
If you can guess where I got the sudden urge to write this, you get a cookie! (Hint: it's from a contemporary pop song that's still popular right now.)